Sheldon Kennedy speaks at symposium focused on youth and sexualized violence

Sheldon Kennedy and partners from the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre were in Yukon to participate in Prevention, Awareness and Response: Conversations about Yukon youth and sexualized assault.  The two-day symposium brought together more than 100 government and non-government officials to share insight on how to best support children, youth and families who are impacted by sexualized abuse.

Sheldon Kennedy spoke to service providers from across the territory about his personal struggles and the painful impacts of sexualized abuse. He highlighted the importance of communities responding in an integrated manner to better support victims and end the stigma around sexualized abuse.

We are appreciative of the opportunity to learn from Sheldon Kennedy’s personal story of strength, resilience and recovery and about the ground-breaking work being done by partners at the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre. They have set a strong example of how we can work together as Yukoners to take action to end all forms of child abuse.

Minister of Justice Tracy-Anne McPhee

I am grateful to support a community that is taking action and coming together to better educate themselves in response to the issues of child abuse.

Sheldon Kennedy 

Quick facts 
  • Prevention, Awareness and Response: Conversations about Yukon youth and sexualized assault was held on March 12 and 13, 2018.

  • The symposium keynote speaker, Sheldon Kennedy, is a former professional hockey player who played for three teams in his eight-year National Hockey League career. He is best known for his courageous decision to disclose the sexualized abuse he experienced and suffered while under the care of his junior hockey coach.

  • Sheldon Kennedy is the lead director at the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre offering full services for victims of child abuse. He is also the co-founder of Respect Group Inc., which provides empowering online education about abuse, bullying and harassment prevention for sport organizations, schools and the workplace.

  • In addition to the symposium, Sheldon held a public screening of his documentary Swift Current, which shines an important light on the painful impacts of sexualized abuse and shares a message of hope for other survivors.

Media contact 

Sunny Patch
Cabinet Communications
867-393-7478
sunny.patch@gov.yk.ca

Megan Foreman
Communications, Justice
867-667-3232
megan.foreman@gov.yk.ca

News release #: 
18-057